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My news . . .

Exams and people's meetings:The good news is the kid's have finished their exams. They all think they managed to get through without failing anything. The bad news is that motomarat (the people's meetings) have not finished and might be extended to 40 days. Wow! They must really enjoy talking! I'm not sure what this is going to do about my work. We aren't allowed to open the school during the evenings while the motomarat is going on, and we're an evening school. Does this mean we have no work for 40 days? No work means no pay - oh dear!

Taxes - those evil things:Another piece of exciting news is that every homeowner must pay 100 dinars tax (per year?) for their home. What are the taxes for? Will they go to improving essential things like medical care and schools? Will we have clean, paved streets without potholes? A system of public transportation? What is going to happen with all the money they plan on collecting? I guess I'm a little less than optimistic these days - must be because of the prospect of not having work for 40 days.

On to news about the house:Yesterday Mustafa and I went out to scan the tile shops for floor tile for the kitchen. Finally, after about two and a half hours, we found one we both liked. The guy in the shop said it was available and we put in an order that they said we could pick up later in the day. So, later in the day, Mustafa went to get the tiles and instead got the news that they didn't have the tiles in stock after all. We are back to square one, having to choose yet again. I am fed up with looking at tile. Maybe we can have a dirt floor in the kitchen and I'll get a few chickens to run in there periodically to clean up the crumbs that the kids leave behind. sigh. . . the thought of going back to the tile shops just gives me a headache.

And then there is the weather:We've been having rain the last few days! Nice climb under the blanket weather for a change! Nice Thanksgiving weather! -

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYBODY!

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Comments

I'm not sure whether to laugh or feel bad when I read your posts. At least it makes me feel good about not being there, and wipes any doubts of my decision never to live there again! I havn't been there since '98 and no plans to visit, not even in the far future.

C'mon, you expect them to tell you what the taxes are for! This is too much; how dare you! ha ha ha

I want to share the link to a small article put out yesterday on the BBC website titled 'The Libyans Blogging for Change' which includes a short video featuring two Libyans; Haider Dawi, 27 year old co-founder of H2O and Khadija Al-Ramali who is co-founder of Project Silphium.
Links here: The Libyans Blogging for ChangeH20Project Silphium
Blogging in Libya has become increasingly dangerous in the past few years. Many bloggers have been picked up, tortured and even killed. A lot of Libyan bloggers have stopped blogging or are only posting infrequently. It's encouraging to see a resurgence of blogging, even on such a small scale. Keep blogging Libyans!

About 55 years ago, before my parents got married, my father visited Florida and bought some land. The plan was that once he was married he would move his family to Florida and build a house there one day.
Time passed, there was marriage and then one child, two, three, four and finally five. My father's work brought him to Florida from time to time. He decided to look into relocating his business. He looked in the vicinity of the land that he had bought, but found it wasn't suitable. The area wasn't built up enough. In the end, my parents found a house in the Tampa Bay area. They decided to keep the land as an investment, possibly to sell in the future.
From time to time my parents were contacted about the land to say that the city and county were making improvements; streets were paved, sewers, telephone and cable lines installed. My parents paid yearly taxes while they continued to hold on to the land as an investment. A few times they drove out to have a look and ind…